France made to work for slender Finland win

France opened their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Finland in Helsinki.

Abou Diaby, winning his first cap since June 2011, scored the only goal on 20 minutes after a bright start from the visitors, collecting Karim Benzema's lay-off following the striker's jinking run and slotting past Lukas Hradecky. From then on Les Bleus sat back, increasingly so as the second half wore on, hanging on for victory

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